This was my choice for birthday dinner as we were supposed to go to the races at Northlands but they had issues with the track so they weren’t running. I was overall happy with the dinner–and here’s why.

To start, I had the Lobster bisque, it wasn’t overly heavy, with large chunks of lobster hiding at the bottom of my bowl. It was a delicate soup which stayed true to the other bisques I have had.

For my entree I had the Wild BC Salmon with Arugula salad, it would have been great if the first plate hadn’t been so overcooked. However, I do know that wild salmon has less fat in it than farmed salmon, and likely dries out much faster than farmed. Once the second plate came, it was delicious. Pictured below is the first plate, you can kind of tell the salmon looks slightly dried out. The arugula salad was quite nice, peppery and delicious, the perfect accompaniment to a filet of seared salmon.

My boyfriend had the NY striploin, which he ate in probably about 1 minute flat. His dinner was part of the chefs selections, a three course meal designed by the executive chef. He also commented that it was one of the best steaks he had ever had, pretty big words considering he’s dating a girl who works at a steakhouse.

My dad had the Kobi Burger, and man, they do burgers right. This is a place where the will ask what doneness you want, so my dad had his medium rare and it came out perfect. He ordered a side of the sauteed mushrooms, which I had a few of, and they were quite good–great flavor and not overly salted. However, everyone’s eyes were on the beautiful monster of a burger, not on the mushrooms.

My girlfriend had their flatbread of the day, a medley of tomatoes, boccini mozzarella, and fresh basil. It was good, but I’ve had better. Their tomato sauce was definitely worth pointing out, it wasn’t a traditional style tomato sauce, but much richer. Which seems odd to say but, it was more orange in color than red, which left me puzzled trying to figure out what else was in it.

The deserts were good, I was disappointed because their strawberry shortcakecreme brulée was no longer a creme brulée. Anyone who knows how much I love creme brulée will understand my disappointment. What it was instead was basically a strawberry custard, however it was a little sweet for me, but not for my boyfriend. He ate his desert and mine in under five minutes.

Overall, Sage was a good restaurant. Wednesdays are half price wine, however there is only a small selection which the offer at half price. I won’t be running to go back anytime soon, but if the opportunity arises, I will try it again. The service was good, our waitress was very attentive and I appreciated that, being a server myself.

I would say it’s worth a try if you’re out at the casino hungry for something a bit more fine dining than buffet or a sports bar.